Rival GM Expects Padres' Mason Miller to 'Break' at Some Point, Making A's Winners in Trade

The San Diego Padres spared no expense in trading for relief pitcher Mason Miller, giving up top prospect Leo De Vries and three top pitching prospects.

The move was controversial given the price tag, especially for a relief pitcher.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller isn't shy about being aggressive or controversial in making deals. He is willing to do whatever it takes to improve the roster.

An anonymous general manager, when talking to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, labeled the A's as winners in the trade, citing Miller's hard throwing as a potential red flag for his longevity.

“It was a no-brainer (for the A's)." the executive said to Nightengale.

“Look, the kid throws 102 mph. Guys don’t sustain throwing 101-102 for six years. I don’t know how many years he has. At some point, he’s going to break. Guys just don’t have the consistency of a Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman."

“So the A’s had to do it. Really, they had no choice."

At age 26, Miller still has plenty of room to grow, develop, and potentially convert into a starter. When he was drafted, the righty was a starting pitcher and played that role throughout his minor league career.

The Athletics opted to use the hard-throwing arm in a more concentrated role, but San Diego could rework him into a starter assuming he can stay healthy.

Miller sits in the 100th percentile for fastball velocity, 99th in expected batting average, and 100th in strikeout rate. In a more expanded role, these advanced metrics might come down a bit, but his stuff is clearly elite.

If he remains a reliever, it is hard to argue that the Padres won the trade — but if he does become a starter, San Diego will make out fine from the deal.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.